March 3, 2024 |
Habakkuk 3:16-19 |
exposition
What are you facing today? It seems easy to keep the faith when life is good, when all your prayers are being answered, and everything is coming up roses. But how do we keep trusting God when life gets hard? When our prayers seem to go unanswered? When our worst fears seem to be coming true? How can we keep trusting the Lord anyway?
In Habakkuk 3:16-19, after hearing the Lord’s plan to use Babylon to discipline Judah, the prophet concluded his little book of lament with a strong resolve to trust the Lord anyway. We can resolve to trust the Lord anyway.
February 25, 2024 |
Habakkuk 3:1-15 |
exposition
Even when life doesn’t make sense and God seems far away, we can lament, crying out our questions and complaints to God, believing that He is good and that He will cause all things to come together for good in the end.
Are you hurting today? Are you dealing with grief from a broken relationship? From a lost loved one? Are struggling with a situation that makes you question whether God cares? And if He does, why doesn’t He act? Or maybe the life you always dreamed of and the life you’re actually living are a hundred miles apart and you wonder why God doesn’t intervene? Like, “God, I see all those miracles and great and mighty works You did in the Bible. Would You do it again, Lord in my life? In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet lifted his cry to the Lord by faith, it turned his lament into praise. We can cry out to the Lord by faith to see our lament turned into praise.
February 18, 2024 |
Habakkuk 2:6-20 |
exposition
This week, in part three of our God Questions series, we see Habakkuk asking, “Where are you, Lord? What are you doing? I’m confused. I don’t see You at work in this. Where are you, Lord?”
How are we to stay faithful when it seems like God is absent? Even when life doesn’t make sense and God seems far away, we can lament, crying out our questions and complaints to God, believing that He is good and that He will cause all things to come together for good in the end. In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet struggled with understanding how a holy God could use an evil nation like Babylon, God answered him, declaring five woes of judgement on Babylon. Within these five woes, God encouraged Habakkuk’s faith by helping him understand where God was at work. We can be encouraged in our faith by understanding where God is at work.
February 11, 2024 |
Habakkuk 1:12-2:5 |
exposition
What do you do when you’ve prayed to God and you don’t like the answer you’ve received? What do we do when God’s answer doesn’t seem to be “yes,” but “wait,” or even more difficult, “no?” That’s Habakkuk. He doesn’t like God’s answer. It doesn’t fit his understanding of God and the world. So now, he has more questions for God.
He even lifts up his “why” questions. “Why Lord? Why would you let this happen?” And “why” questions are the hardest of all. In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet struggled with why a holy God would allow an evil nation like Babylon to prevail over Judah, the Lord called Habakkuk to trust that His plans would be better in the end. We can trust that God’s plans for us will be better in the end.
February 4, 2024 |
Habakkuk 1:1-11 |
exposition
Do you have questions for God today? Are you asking, “Lord, how long?” How long before You answer my cry for help? I’m going through a divorce, my wife left me, I’m trying to raise these kids alone… Lord, how long before you send help? I’m hurting. I’m grieving. I’m lonely. Help! Maybe you’re facing a health scare. You’re asking, “Lord, why aren’t you healing me? Or why aren’t you healing my loved one? Or you’ve lost someone. “Lord, I don’t understand why? How long will this sorrow last? How long will this grief linger? Or maybe the violence and strife of this world is filling you with fear, you’re crying, “Lord, how long must we wait for Your return? How long, Lord?”
That’s why the little Habakkuk is so timely today. It teaches us how to cry out in lament to God. In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet cried out his questions and complaints to God believing that He would answer. We can cry out our questions and complaints to God believing that He will answer.
